Skopje, 5 September 2022 (MIA) – The Director General of the Power Plants of Macedonia company (ESM), Vasko Kovachevski, said Monday that they are looking for ways to provide businesses with cheaper electricity and aid companies and institutions in overcoming the energy crisis. “As a country, in the past period we have made intensive preparations to increase electricity production. We produce 100 percent of the energy necessary for the citizens and smaller consumers domestically, instead of only 60 percent as stipulated by the legislation, so that EVN Home does not have to acquire the remaining percentage at market prices, because that will affect the domestic budget of each citizen,” said Kovachevski. In the meantime, the head of ESM stated, together with the Government they are seeking ways to aid businesses and the institutions, i.e., to acquire more resources: coal, mazut and natural gas, in order to help the free market, where the prices are several times higher than the prices on the regular market, which is supplied by ESM. “We are preparing for the heating season. Prime Minister Kovachevski, Minister Bekteshi as well as I, as a representative of ESM, had intensive talks within the Open Balkan Initiative, with the other member states of the initiative, but also with Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina as well, in order to find a way to jointly manage and improve energy situation,” said Kovachevski. ad/ba/